"First the idea and then the move!" Miguel Najdorf used to say in his
habitually enthusiastic fashion; that statement is the perfect summary
of planning in chess. Planning is of crucial importance in chess and yet
this is an area that has not been well discussed or explained to
ambitious players who wish to improve. A very well known saying in chess
is "Better a bad plan than no plan at all". Playing without a plan -
effectively staggering from one move to the next - is a recipe for
disaster. It is essential to have some kind of idea of what you are
trying to achieve and how to go about it. However, planning is not a
straightforward matter. A good plan might be very short, lasting just
two or three moves. Another plan might require almost an entire game to
implement. A plan can be highly ambitious and complex or somewhat modest
and simple. In chess, as in life, circumstances can change quickly and
when they do, new plans are needed. How is a player expected to juggle
all these different concepts while dealing with the immediate problems
posed by the opponent's most recent move? In this book, grandmaster and
experienced author Zenón Franco explains planning in detail. He
organises material in terms of: typical structures, advantage in space,
manoeuvring play, simplification and, finally attack and defence. Using
games played by elite players he explains how plans are formed and
carried out in these different scenarios. If you want to take your game
to the next level, then Planning Move by Move will enable you to do
this. Zenón Franco is a Grandmaster from Paraguay, now living in Spain.
He represented Paraguay, on top board, in seven Chess Olympiads, and won
individual gold medals at Lucerne 1982 and Novi Sad 1990. He's an
experienced trainer and has written numerous books on chess.
